A charlotte is a type of dessert or trifle that can be served hot or cold. It can also be known as an "ice-box cake". Bread, sponge cake or biscuits/cookies are used to line a mold, which is then filled with a fruitpuree or custard. It can also be made using layers of breadcrumbs.

Classically, stale bread dipped in butter was used as the lining, but sponge cake or ladyfingers may be used today. The filling may be covered with a thin layer of similarly flavoured gelatin.

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Due to the simple preparation of charlottes, many different varieties have developed. Most charlottes are served cool, so they are more common in warmer seasons. Fruit charlottes usually combine a fruit purée or preserve with a custard filling or whipped cream. Some flavors include strawberry, raspberry, apple, pear, and banana.

Charlotte russe was also a dessert or on-the-go treat popular during the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. It was sold in candy stores and luncheonettes throughout the five boroughs of New York. It consisted of a paper cup filled with yellow cake and whipped cream topped with half a maraschino cherry. The bottom of the cup is pushed up to eat.[4]

There is a lot of doubt surrounding the origins of the name charlotte. Despite the fact that charlottes are served across Europe, one etymology suggests it is a corruption of the Old English word charlyt meaning "a dish of custard". In another, meat dishes that were known as charlets were popular in the 15th century. Other historians say that this sweet dish took its name from Queen Charlotte (1744–1818), wife of George III of the United Kingdom.[5][6] It is possible that the dessert takes its name from Alexander I's sister-in-law, Charlotte of Prussia.

New York style Charlotte russe is mentioned in the book A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith (1943), chapters 16 and 39. From chapter 16: "There was a bakery store to one side of it which sold beautiful charlotte russes with red candied cherries on their whipped cream tops for those who were rich enough to buy."